


Of Coconuts and Swallows

by alfie_bet



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の事件簿 - 三田誠 | Lord El-Melloi II Case Files - Sanda Makoto
Genre: Dad!Waver, Gen, Gray needs to work on her self-confidence, nor is it to be read in such a way, this is definitely not a ship fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26339011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alfie_bet/pseuds/alfie_bet
Summary: After grading what he thought was a rather easy assignment for his students, Lord El-Melloi II realizes that, perhaps, helping a floundering student outside of class can be just the thing they need.And if helping means finding the difference between African and European swallows, then who is he to question it?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	Of Coconuts and Swallows

The sounds of a pen scraping quickly across paper, accompanying the ticking of a clock and the background static of the television, filled the otherwise quiet apartment with the low hum of activity. 

Painting his students’ essays in red ink was both a pleasure and a pain for Lord El-Melloi. On one hand, he thoroughly enjoyed digging through their arguments and ripping them apart akin to a rather aggressive rabbit in a vegetable garden. On the other, he longed for the day when someone’s paper finally made an impact on him, being completely devoid of red and remaining unblemished.

Taking a sip of his tea, he sat back to survey what he had finished and what had yet to be graded. The assignment had been a simple affair, an essay to be finished within the time constraints of class and to be delivered immediately after. The topic, although perhaps a little cliché, was emotion and how it affected one’s magecraft. He knew that his classroom contained a wide variety of students with a vast amount of different specialties, so it was no surprise to him that each paper was unique in its own way.

Ms. Edelfelt’s paper sufficiently marked, the professor carefully placed it on the finished pile, sparing the “Did You Even Listen?” pile a glance. So far, the only two papers in that particular pile belonged to Svin and Yvette. Those conversations were definitely not ones that he personally wished to have, but as a teacher, he was essentially cornered.

The next paper, the words printed so delicately that they looked like they could disintegrate, belonged to Gray. Lord El-Meloi smiled, moving the paper from the “To-Do” pile to the middle of the desk, red pen poised between his fingers. He didn’t expect to make too many marks on her paper, trusting that his personal apprentice knew how to write a simple essay using correct spelling and grammar.

As his eyes scanned the document, however, his smile began to fade, brows furrowing. While the paper had started off innocently enough, talking about her circuits and what she did to make them stronger, the essay started to veer toward a decidedly self-deprecating conclusion.

_“_ _一Concerning my own personal magecraft, I think it is safe to say that I am hardly worth being called a mage at all. At times, I relish this feeling. I am unsure of how to express the relief I feel when I know that I am average, at best. I don’t wish to be anything more than that._

_“When I see my classmates excel, I feel happy for them. I know that it might be strange, to not feel any sort of envy toward those that score above me in all considerations, but I am quite comfortable where I am. Perhaps, for me personally, failing to be something extraordinary is a blessing.”_

For a long moment, he stared at the words on the page, re-reading the short essay again before sighing deeply. He supposed, if he were being fair, that she had a point. Gray found comfort through mediocrity. It was safe, a realm where no one expected her to be anything but herself, and no one tried to force her to be someone she clearly wasn’t.

Leaning forward to rest his chin in his hand, Lord El-Melloi tapped his lips absently with his pen. If he mentioned the essay’s contents to her, either at his apartment or in his office, he had a sinking suspicion that the most he’d get out of her would be silence and the occasional guilty glance from within the depths of her hood. On the other, if he didn’t address it, these feelings of inadequacy would remain unchecked and would no doubt fester into full-blown self loathing in time.

He wanted her to learn from him, not become him. She was young, she had prospects, she still had time before she became a bitter, over-steeped tea bag like himself. 

Setting his pen down and grabbing a few paperweights to keep the essays in place, he got up to stretch. Obviously, he couldn’t fix all of these feelings of self-loathing in one evening, that was highly impossible. What _was_ possible, however, was lightening her mood. And, if he could lighten her mood, then maybe she would feel more comfortable with opening up and talking to him. 

The professor grabbed his keys and a coat, locking his door before heading out into the chilly air. He hoped that the video rental store still had the title he needed.

* * *

“Well! It’s about time he got it over with! I was wondering when he was going to defl-” Add was thankfully cut off, Gray shaking the vocal cube much to its protest. Despite her companion’s crude comments, she was certainly a little intrigued why her teacher had called her to his apartment on such short notice, and in the evening, no less.

She was used to visiting in the mornings, usually on the kind of rainy mornings when he didn’t seem to have the personal convictions to get out of bed. She wouldn’t admit it to a single living soul, and rarely she ever thought this to herself, but her teacher’s habits were...peculiar. 

She wouldn’t necessarily call it ‘laziness’, per se, as she knew that he was an exceptionally driven individual in all other aspects of life. Rather, Gray just attributed it to a lack of wishing to be sentient in the early hours of the morning.

Once, she had even heard him mumble darkly that he wished he were a garden shrub as opposed to a human. She supposed, in some way, she shared the sentiment. She supposed she’d much rather be a dandelion. Small, unassuming, and very much susceptible to weed killer.

Thoughts of shrubs and weed killer aside, she carefully made her way up the narrow stairs leading to his apartment, minding the sharp edges of the old bricks lining the stairwell. Once in the hallway, she made her way over to his door, knocking twice.

After a moment of silence, the door’s latch lock was undone, her professor opening the door for her. He certainly didn’t seem like he was going out anytime soon, dressed casually in that videogame shirt he loved and a dark pair of sweatpants.

Add commented that the clothing was definitely no way to impress a young girl in her prime, which earned another hearty shake of the cage.

“Lady, it’s good to see you. Come in, the popcorn is almost done,” he shuffled back into the apartment, leaving her standing there a little confused. Popcorn? The sir? Making popcorn? The night was getting more and more surreal and she wasn’t for certain if she had the mental fortitude to handle any more weirdness.

Unfortunately, the situation only seemed to heighten in its curiosity. The apartment was noticeably cleaner than the last time she had set foot inside, all of the plastic bottles normally swept off into the corner magically gone. His ash tray was even clean, the apartment smelling more like the cedar candle he had lit and less like the outside of a pub.

She nearly jumped from her skin when something beeped from the kitchen, Gray peeking in to see her professor dumping the contents of a hot bag into a large green plastic bowl. He glanced over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow, “Have a seat, Gray, I’ll be there in a moment. What would you like to drink?”

“Ah...erm...I don’t...I mean, I’m not really...thirsty一” She stammered out, not knowing where this was all going but feeling extremely out of her element. She’d only ever had popcorn once, and it had been fine. Certainly not a reason to invite an apprentice to one’s apartment.

He hummed, pulling out a large bottle of what she knew to be Coke before deciding to heed his words. Mindful of smoothing out her skirt before sitting down, she all but sank into the leather of his couch. It really was a lovely couch, very plush, and surprisingly well taken care of, given how much time he spent sitting on it.

Gray looked up when he finally came in, setting the green bowl and two cups of soda down before grabbing his DVD player remote to start up the player.

“Lady, I know you haven’t watched many movies, but are you familiar with Monty Python?” He skipped through the commercials, hovering the cursor over ‘play’ before setting the remote on the armrest.

“I...can’t say that I have, no. Is he some sort of mage? Or is this a documentary?” She pursed her lips, reading the title of the movie on the DVD case. “Monty Python and...the Holy Grail? Sir, this is...I didn’t realize that the Holy Grail War had become such a common topic, you must feel terrible一”

She expected him to double back with a comment that, to some, might border on petulance. What she didn’t expect was him actually chuckling, shaking his head. “It’s not related to the Grail War. This is...well, it’s about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I think you’ll enjoy this, it’s one of my favorite movies.”

“This is...about King Arthur?” She glanced down at her hands, biting her lip. He was afraid of her face because she _looked_ like Arthur, so why would his favorite movie be about that person?

“I know you have reservations, I don’t blame you, but I promise that this is the very last thing you expect this to be. Give it ten minutes, and if you don’t like it, we’ll watch something else.” Maybe it was the clean apartment, the scented candle, or the tone of his voice, but she nodded after a moment. If Lord El-Melloi II thought that she could handle something, then by God she’d handle it.

The movie seemed to start off in a normal fashion, at least until the first mention of the moose.

* * *

In truth, he had his reservations about picking the movie for them to watch. He knew good and well how she felt about King Arthur and knew that there was a good chance she would refuse to watch the movie based solely on the name alone.

He found, however, that his favorite movie elicited one of the greatest sounds he’d heard in quite some time: her laughter. 

He wasn’t for sure which part of the movie did it, but what had started as small inhales through the nose had bubbled into soft giggles and, at last, peals of bell-like laughter. He smiled along with her, taking another handful of popcorn while she wrestled with taking a sip of her drink between giggles.

As the screen returned to the DVD’s main menu, Gray munching on the last bits of popcorn, he huffed softly, willing himself to stand so he could take the empty bowl and cups to the kitchen. He left them in the sink, resolving to wash them later, before turning around to see Gray standing at the doorway. 

“Lady, what’s the matter? You didn’t have to get up yet一”

“Why did you invite me over tonight?” Her question was surprisingly straightforward, which took him by surprise. Her gaze was steady, even while hidden beneath the shade of her hood and the shadows of the apartment.

“...I read your essay.”

“...Nevermind, forget I asked一” She squeaked, ducking out of the kitchen. He sighed, following after her, stopping to see that she had just sat back down on the couch.

“...so...the movie was to soften the blow of a lecture?” Gray sighed, looking over when he sat back down.

“Not at all. It was never my intention to lecture you tonight. I did want to discuss the topic of your essay, and give you my own opinion, if you’d let me.”

Gray sighed, her fingers clenching and unclenching the fabric of her skirt. “I...okay. Yes, please continue, sir.”

He nodded before reaching over, his hand resting on the top of her hood. “I wanted to tell you to drop these notions of mediocrity and accept that you are a truly exceptional young lady in your own way. Don’t compare yourself to Reines, or Svin, or Flat, or any of my other students. And certainly not to some person that received their executive power from some watery tart in a lake.”

He smiled, his hand ruffling the fabric of her hood, “I don’t say this often, and to very few people, but...I am so very proud of you, Gray.”

Gray blinked, staring up at him. In the silence of the apartment, he began to feel as though he had said the wrong thing. He was caught by surprise when Gray all but launched herself at her teacher, hugging his middle. She didn’t say anything, but he knew that the gesture and the shaking of her shoulders spoke far more than words could convey.

And if he hugged her back, hoping that perhaps a little bit of kindness and affirmation shown from him could help her finally grow into the confident young person he knew she could be, neither thought to mention it.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated! Thanks for reading!


End file.
